MA Design: Ceramics at BSAD, Bath Spa University aims to develop individual abilities within the subject, whether through practice or historical or theoretical study. Approaches range from sculpture and installation through to studio ceramics and design for products. Why study Design: Ceramics? The course is distinctive in offering you the opportunity to specialise in ceramics as a medium allied to a breadth of possibilities, and establishing negotiated individual modes of practice. Course structure:
The course is offered in both full and part-time modes. It is normally one year (3 trimesters) in duration in full-time mode or 6 trimesters in part-time mode. The first two trimesters comprise taught sessions and assessed projects, while the Master’s Project in the final part of the course is by negotiated project only. Completion of the first 2 modules on the course lead to the award of the Postgraduate Certificate, and completion of the first 4 modules leads to the award of the Postgraduate Diploma. Subsequent completion of the MA double module leads to the award of MA Design: Ceramics. In the first trimester you will undertake a module in research methodologies in conjunction with students from other design disciplines. You will also be establishing and initiating your studio based creative practice through individual and group tutorials, critiques and a live project in conjunction with the Holburne Museum. This teaching will cover issues of technique together with aesthetic and design ideas and their interpretation and context within contemporary practice. This approach to studio work will be further developed in the second trimester, alongside an individual analysis of the relevant theoretical, cultural and social context for your work. The four modules taken in the first two trimesters lead to the postgraduate diploma (PGDip). The final trimester, leading to the MA, comprises an individually negotiated and self-initiated body of work building on the knowledge and skills already acquired. You will be supervised by tutorial through to completion. The project will be selected from options giving an emphasis either to individual expression or a more design-based approach.
